Contextually, Paul is putting forth reasons for believing in the
resurrection of the dead. A possible explanation is that he is citing an
otherwise unknown first century Hellenistic/pagan ritual of baptizing the
dead in anticipation of a resurrection. In such a scenario, he does not
cite this custom as a model for the Christian community, but only as an
example of the widely held belief in a resurrection of the dead.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Jim McMillan, Coordinator
Community Internet Pilot Project
Cooperative Extension Service
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
(217) 244-5962 (O) (217) 837-2610 (H)
"Internauting" as mcmillan@alexia.lis.uiuc.edu